Chris Christie orders leader of New Jersey's National Guard to lose weight

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A fine example of the kettle calling the pot fat

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I gather there i some irony in Christie (a rather portly fellow) telling another individual to lose weight?

Ok. so I suppose perhaps I get the point here…but come on. Christie is a politician…Cunniff is the leader of the state wide military.

Christie has no real obligation to remain fit and in shape beyond being a good role model. BUT Cunniff must by military physical fitness standards be able to pass his physicals and PT test in order to remain an active service member.

This is not apples and apples here.

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Not to mention, Chris Christie has lost a lot of weight in the past two years (since getting lap band surgery). He isn’t thin by any means, and certainly wouldn’t pass the military fitness tests, but it isn’t like he is telling people do to what he isn’t willing to do himself.

Plenty of better reasons to hate on Christie…

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Plenty of better reasons.

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So… Good for Chris Christie, I guess?

Not sure it’s Chris Christie’s place to tell him to lose weight in public. Given the man in question is appointed as the leader of NJ’s national guard, if his weight impacts on his leadership, he needs to be told to lose weight in confidence and ultimately fired in public if he doesn’t respond. No legitimate purpose whatsoever in publicly undermining a leader whilst leaving him in post. Shame on Chris Christie.

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The all-american hero Norman Schwarzkopf was 56 when he took command of the US forces for Gulf War 1, and he was not the type with a slim sporty physique either. No one batted an eye …

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Why not match him pound for pound? Show Cunniff how easy it is. The loser gives to a charity of the other’s choice.

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That’s an interesting comparison… I wonder if it would be possible to FOIA request Stormin’ Norman’s military records to see if he was ever reprimanded for his weight, etc? Though I can’t find any recent pictures of Cunniff to see exactly how big he is right now, for comparison to Schwarzkopf during the Gulf War (to be fair, in a quick image search for Schwarzkopf during GW1, he looks big but I don’t see any obvious gut-hanging-over-the-belt images, so I could believe that he’d be able to pass at least SOME physical fitness tests).

Also, out of curiosity - do the military’s fitness requirements change by age and/or rank/role?

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Internet failed me I couldn’t find a video clip from Mo’ Money for this quote:

Anyone else notice a striking resemblance with the great John Candy??

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This guy?

He’s got a bit of padding, but he’s definitely fit.

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Reasons.

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From what I’ve read, he was a combat veteran who led his troops from the front and was awarded three silver stars for valor in combat. If you wanna tell him he’s out of shape/fat, I’ll go along but only if I can stand to the side and watch.
Of course, that particular Norman is now storming other, more ethereal gates.

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Definitely yes for age in all five branches (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy); not sure about rank. Each branch maintains different standards/tests. For instance, the Air Force standard has three axes – aerobic, body composition, muscle fitness – and four tests: run 1.5 miles (aerobic, 60%), abdominal girth (body composition, 20%), push-ups and sit-ups (muscle fitness, 10% each). Here’s a page with the AF standards for males age 40-49. Note the maximum waist size of 39 inches…

Must say, I’m surprised by the push-up requirement – less than 21 push-ups per minute fails the entire evaluation; 29 is the minimum passing grade if all other tests pass at minimum – oof! Compare that to the minimum-pass-all grades of 37 sit-ups per minute and 14:25 for 1.5 mile run (that’s only 1/3 faster than walking!) Seems odd to me, given that an Air Force doctor, Kenneth Cooper, is the guy who literally invented – by measuring, theorizing, and testing – aerobic fitness.

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Well of course not—if any of these guys ate more fresh fruit and less junk food then New Jersey wouldn’t have gotten itself into this situation in the first place.

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Feels like a Jeff Foxworthy spinoff bit: "You just might be overweight when…

…Chris Christie tells you to mix in a salad once in a while."

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.

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Here’s another shot. Yeah, he’s 56, but he’s in a different league that this NJ fellow.

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